The Main Event
Former world champion Michael Smith will be hoping to avoid a potential banana skin when he takes on Kevin Doets on Thursday at the World Darts Championship.
The 34-year-old faces the Dutchman in round two in what is a repeat of their encounter in round one last year, in which Smith had to come back from 2-1 down to win 3-2.
Doets looked sharp while seeing off Noa-Lynn van Leuven in his opener but remains an underdog against the 2023 winner.
The Bully Boy is firmly part of Ally Pally folklore after his epic nine-darter against Michael van Gerwen on his way to triumphing in January 2023 but heads to the finals needing a strong championship to remain in the top 10 of PDC’s Order of Merit.
THE BEST LEG OF ALL TIME! 🤯🔥
MICHAEL VAN GERWEN MISSES D12 FOR A NINE-DARTER, AND THEN SMITH PINS A PERFECT LEG HIMSELF!
ONE OF THE GREATEST THINGS YOU’LL EVER SEE IN SPORT. pic.twitter.com/WyKWFcxq5V
— PDC Darts (@OfficialPDC) January 3, 2023
“I really don’t (think about it), because the only thing that stresses me out now is the questions about that. But I’m not bothered about it, because I’m not going to fall out of the top 16,” Smith told Sky Sports.
“I might fall out of the top 10 if I don’t pull my finger out, but it means next year then, because I’ve virtually took a year now, I’ve got nothing to defend.
“So I’ve got probably about £120,000 to defend next year, so I’ll be back to work along anyway. So next year, not bothered, no pressure, I just want to play darts. The other side of that, my management team can worry about it, my family can worry about it, I just want to play.
“As long as I don’t fall out of 64, because then I’ll retire then. If I fall out of 64, I won’t do Q School, because I know I wasn’t good enough, so I’ll just literally start something else.”
Mensur Suljovic returns to Ally Pally after a year at home last year as he takes on Canadian Matt Campbell.
Campbell enjoyed an impressive Ally Pally 12 months ago as he dumped out Lourence Ilagan and James Wade before crossing paths with teenage sensation Luke Littler.
Elsewhere, Romeo Grbavac is up against Callan Rydz and Robert Owens takes on Gabriel Clemens as part of eight matches throughout the day.
Order of Play
Afternoon Session (from 12:30pm UK time)
- Chris Landman v Lok Yin Lee (R1)
- Callan Rydz v Romeo Grbavac (R1)
- Martin Lukeman v Nitin Kumar (R1)
- Gabriel Clemens v Robert Owen (R2)
Evening Session (from 7pm UK time)
- Nick Kenny v Stowe Buntz (R1)
- Mensur Suljovic v Matt Campbell (R1)
- Scott Williams v Niko Springer (R1)
- Michael Smith v Kevin Doets (R2)
How to watch
The PDC World Championship is being screened on Sky Sports in the UK.
You can watch the afternoon session on Sky Sports Darts and Sky Sports Main Event at 12:30pm, with the evening session starting from 7pm.
Predictions
Expect no issues for Smith in the headline slot, with Campbell to also enjoy another win against Suljovic.
We are also backing wins for Grbavac and Owens, as well as Scott Williams, Nick Kenny and Martin Lukeman.
